Final Fantasy VII: End Of Crisis
by SherrieJ1010
Summary: Beings from the darkness, memories of dark times, portals of darkness appearing all over the planet; Cloud believes his battle with the darkness is only beginning and his inner war with Sephiroth is far from finished. He wants to end the crisis-for good.


Part 1: The Heat of the Sun

1995, Mt. Nibel, Nibelheim

"Hey, Cloud! Over here!" A boy waves to him through dense fog. Cloud is breathing heavily, failing to keep up with him. He bends over with his hands on his knees with sweat dripping from his blonde hair and runs over his eyelids that shield his ocean blue eyes. "She has to be here somewhere." The boy calls out from the fog. Cloud raises his head and reaches his hand out to the fog. As he does and hand reaches for his with a smile on his face, but that is all Cloud can see. The rest of him is hidden in the fog.

Next thing he knows, Cloud is on the suspension bridge to Mt. Nibel. The fog is lifting allowing the pools of Mako of the mountain to become visible; they shine an eerie green light on the landscape. A girl is a ways in front of him but doesn't notice him. "Mother, mother!" she cries out, "Where are you?" Her voice echoes through the mountain.

"Cloud, go get her! The bridge doesn't look sturdy." The boy holds the rope against the poles, but they are being strained. "Hurry, Cloud!"

Cloud runs to the girl as fast as he can while the boy looks for the weak spot on the bridge. Cloud catches up with the girl and put one hand on her shoulder and asks, "Tifa, where are you going?" Startled, she grabs his arm and throws him over her shoulder. Pinned to the bridge- neck under her knee- she recognizes her friend.

"Cloud, what are you doing here?" She offers to help him up, but he sits up on his own.

"I was follo…making sure you were alright. You were calling for your mother, I was…concerned."

"Sorry to make you worry. I was hoping she was here, somewhere in one of these Mako pools- a stationary soul in the Lifestream. She wouldn't leave father and I, not this early." She falls to her knees and begins to sob. Cloud fiddles with his short trying to find the right words to say- not knowing what to say. Suddenly, the bridge starts to sway back and forth. Cloud and Tufa grab onto the nearest rope. Cloud notices the rope on Tifa's side start to break.

"Cloud, what's happening? Ahh!" The rope becomes looser causing the floor boards of the bridge to become slant.

"Hold on, Tifa." Cloud looks around for the boy, but is nowhere to be found. The fog starts to cloud the air again and in it, Cloud sees a figure of a man holding the boy under one arm while he is slouched over- now unconscious.

"Help us, please!" Tifa cries out. Cloud calls out the boy's name hoping to get a response, but doesn't receive one. What's worse is that everything around him goes mute; he can't hear himself calling the boy's name, he can't hear Tifa crying out for help, he can't hear the further snaps of the rope, he can't hear the silence of the boy, and he can't hear the voice of the man. Cloud sees the man mouth the words, "Dream and you will forget, Awaken and you shall remember", as he disappears in a cloud of darkness and the bridge snaps in half sending Cloud and Tifa tumbling through the air- plummeting to the ground. As the ground gets closer, the faster his heart starts to beat, the harder he finds it to breathe, the further he becomes from Tifa's out-reaching hand, the more anxious he becomes of the inevitable impact. He sees Tifa hit the rocky bottom of the mountain depression and is instantly knocked out indicated by her eyes rolling to the back of her head. Before Cloud can reach the ground, he wakes up from his memory of a childhood nightmare.

2010 Edge, Midgar. Cloud rubs his head and eyes as he awakens in the early hours of the morning. He takes a deep breath before opening his eyes; he looks over to the other twin bed that has been pushed next to his, but Tifa is already awake and downstairs. Pulling the covers off, he does a quick stretch before heading down the hall. He slowly opens the door to the other bedroom; peaking through the little opening he wonders if the children are still sleeping and they are. He closes the door quietly to not disturb them and heads downstairs to the bar. He can smell the sweet scent of pancakes, bacon and eggs, he can hear the sound of the coffee machine brewing, he can touch the bare shoulders of Tifa, taste the skin of her neck as he kisses it and can see the dishes she has been washing.

"Well, good morning to you too, Cloud. Guessing you slept well." She turns the faucet off ad wipes her hands on her shirt.

"Funny you should say that 'cause I had a rough night of sleep. Can't tell if I was dreaming of a memory while sleeping or I was remembering a memory while being awake." Cloud rubs his forehead still puzzled. Tifa leads him to the table knowing this will be a long conversation they should sit down for.

"What was it about; something to do with Zack or Aeris…Sephiroth?"

"Not this time. It was actually about you and I. When we were eight and nine on Mt. Nibel and the bridge broke…do you remember?"

"Barely, since I was in a coma for some time after that. Don't you remember?"

"Yeah, I do. It's weird that I can remember it so vividly and I didn't get nearly as hurt as you did despite both falling off the bridge. Or maybe I'm fabricating the situation as I want to see it….hmph, it wouldn't be the first time."

"You know you were never to blame, Cloud. I never blamed you."

"Yeah, I know. It's just I've never remembered another boy with me that day until now…I don't know who he is though…or what he looks like. I just hear his voice- a voice not like any of the other kids in Nibelheim we grew up with."

"Any luck with a name?"

"I know it but for some reason I can't hear myself say it."

"Could have been a boy from a family passing though, many did to get to Rocket Town or the Mako Reactor and especially Shinra Manor. I wouldn't think too much into it." Tifa gets up to pour them cups of coffee.

"I guess you're right." But Cloud thinks to himself why the man who saved or took the boy away didn't help them and why a dark cloud engulfed them. "Maybe I was fabricating a dream into a memory." He blows on his coffee before taking a sip.

"Umm, something smells good!" A girl comes running into the kitchen and quickly grabs a plate and piles food on it.

"Hey, Marlene-save some for me! A growing boy needs twice as much food as you."

"Oh really? Well when I go visit Daddy he feeds me as if I was as big of a man as him. I've developed a big appetite." She sticks her tongue out at him.

"Keep eating like that and you will become an overgrown Tonberry with your short self." He takes a pancake off her stack of five and grabs a pound of bacon and eggs.

"How rude, Denzel!"

"How is Barrett doing by the way, Marlene?" Tifa asks.

"Busy with work as usual, but he's getting better at making more time for me lately! He says I can probably live with him again soon…but soon for him can be another three years." Marlene and Denzel join Cloud and Tifa at the table. The phone rings and caller ID reads: Barret Wallace.

"Speak of the devil." Cloud answers the phone behind the counter in the bar, holding it arm's length away from his ear.

"What up fool, it's Barrett! Surprised you picked up the fucking phone this early in the morning! Well I'll be damned, got some early morning deliveries or something?"

"No."

"Well shit if I didn't have to be up, best believe I would be sleeping in."

"Aye, watch your mouth, daddy!" Marlene yells from the kitchen.

"Sorry baby girl. How you doing?"

"Trying to eat!"

"Alright then, talk to you later. Cloud….I called to tell you something, but now I forgot."

"Call back when you remember then."

"Ah, I remember now. Some weird shi-stuff happened yesterday at out oil field in Bone Village. We were digging for oil and then poof- a girl came stumbling through a portal of darkness-literally! She looked lost as all hell and now she is passed out-recovering in the inn. She keeps calling out, "Nunchaku" and "Knife"…she doesn't seem like the violent type, but then again anyone who appears from a ball of darkness is suspicious in my book. Something weird is going on and I don't like it. We saved the world from Omega and Deep Ground- so why is weird shit still happening?!"

"And, what do you want me to do about it?"

"Help me figure out what this chick is about? There have also been other reports of strange people appearing from balls of darkness all over the planet: Midgar, Bone Village, Costa del Sol, Junon, Gongaga, Icicle Inn, Mideel, and Rocket Town. I've made Reeve aware, but you know how to sniff out the darkness better than anyone I know…. If Sephiroth returns again, Cloud- I will go postal." Denzel laughs at how animated Barrett is while Marlene yells at him for cursing again.

"Hey Cloud, aren't there two Turks whose names are Nunchaku and Knife? She could be looking for them? I would contact Tseng, Rude or Rufus to see where they are."

"Now we're thinking! Thank you, Tifa- always the one on top of thangs." Tifa takes the phone from Cloud since he's not being much of any help anyway.

"I'll contact them, Barrett and Cloud will meet up with you soon. Sound good?" She asks seeking Cloud's approval mostly.

"Damn right it sounds good-catch ya later!" Barrett hangs up the phone before the conversation can continue.

Cloud, not having much say in the matter, gets his motorcycle, Fenrir ready while Tifa contacts Rude to get in touch with the other Turks and to get more information on the strange activity in Midgar. She learns of the sightings of dark energy in Sector 5 and 6- The Church and Wall Street respectively. Marlene and Denzel decide to stay home and get the bar ready for their regulars with the help of their neighbor who is also an employee. Cloud and Tifa head to Sector 5 first to meet up with Reno and Rude as the sun starts setting.

Sector 5 of Old Midgar used to be a place where the people of the Slums dwelled. The Slums was any place in Midgar that touched the ground, hidden beneath the extravagance of the Plates. The plates blocked any sunlight from reaching the ground, so this place was nothing but dirt and poor people. This was a somewhat lively market with nothing valuable besides the conversations with the people that shopped there who shared their hopes and dreams of a better future. Once a stranger dreamed of a bar called Seventh Heaven where the bartender would be a big-chested woman; little did he know his dream would come true with the establishment of Tifa's bar and the boobs she was blessed with.

There were two places in this sector where the light touched: the home of a flower girl and her sanctuary. In both of these places, gorgeous flowers bloomed year-round with little tending to. This was because under the bed of these colorful structures is the pure water from the Lifestream- a place that the Lifestream reaches the surface, but doesn't become a pool of Mako. The flowerbed has given way to that pool of water when the Lifestream and her favorite maiden helped cure the people of this planet from a terrible disease brought about by an enigma and his Meteorfall a year ago. Now on the other side of the pool of water stands an old sword that has recently been polished. Some flowers have started to grow in the surrounding area outside the church while the church itself is starting to be renovated.

Cloud and Tifa arrive at the church in the evening to find Reno and Rude waiting outside. Their helicopter was landed a few yards away on top of some rubble. Tifa looks around expecting other Turks and their leader to be with them, but it was just them two. However, she notices Rude on the phone and assumes he is talking to the boss or 2nd in charge. Reno leans against one of the walls of the church- one leg up, one leg down, eyes closed, arms folded- tapping his steel rod against his arm.

"It's about time. What took you so long?" Reno walks towards them tapping the rod against the palm of his hand now.

"Impatient as ever." Cloud enables a mechanism on his bike that reveals a rack of long and heavy swords. He straps one onto his back. Reno seeing his back turned to him, charges him for a surprise attack. Before he can get arm's length away from him- he says, "Didn't you learn your lesson the last time?" Cloud ducks, turn his body and with his hand still on the handle of the sword he thrusts it up into Reno's stomach. He grabs onto the handle and head butts Cloud, hurting his head more than Cloud's.

"Ha, I did! You suck at close combat. Leave that to Tifa." He says as he stumbles away trying to regain the right orientation.

"Knock it off, Reno. We're here to work." Rude hangs up the phone and puts it in his pocket.

"So where is this 'portal of darkness'?" Tifa wonders

"Obviously, we have to wait until it gets darker outside for it to appear." Reno mockingly replies as he rubs his forehead.

"Actually, there has been report of them appearing at any time of the day, so…" Rude clarifies.

"You're supposed to be my partner in crime- why am I not informed of these things?" Reno hunches over feeling betrayed.

"I'm going inside to investigate." Cloud leaves them as Rude and Reno have their daily butting-of-heads to making-up conversation. Tifa can't help but to laugh at their amusing show.

Inside the church, nostalgia floods Cloud's mind. Many recent-still heart-warming but also painful memories live here. He stares at the ceiling remembering that fateful day he fell through the roof, landed in a bed of cushioning flowers, and opened his eyes to embrace the first sight of his guardian angel. He looks at the pool of water remembering the moment he realized he wasn't alone and his friends are his family. He can still see the smile on Denzel's face when he was healed of Geostigma, the smile on Tifa's face as she saw the fog lift from their eyes, and the smiles of his friends- those still alive and those who have passed. Finally he holds the Buster sword he inherited from his friend upon his deathbed; a sword, a purpose, a dream, a promise he chooses to carry on and fulfill. Cloud walks around the church some more to see if anything looks out of place or new. The sun is nearly down as Tifa and the guys join him. The floorboards creak as usual, but the air feels different.

"Tifa," He makes a shushing gesture. Reno too busy talking misses the que, but Rude silences him with a simple snap. They all stand completely still trying to feel what Cloud feels. The sun sets completely and darkness fills the church. Tonight is a New Moon. As Cloud scans the room, he sees little yellow lights moving around the east wall. Suddenly, more and more appear and move sporadically; Cloud grips the handle of his sword, Reno fully extends his rod at his side, Tifa and Rude knuckle up. The yellow lights move from the walls and onto the floor towards them. None hear or see any flying aircrafts, other people that could be carrying flashlights, or casting a spell using Materia- they are baffled. Eerily, the lights rise out of the ground and form into strangely formed shadowy creatures. Reno starts swinging at them, but his rod has no effect on them.

"What the hell are these things?" Reno continues to swing at them, but his efforts are futile. A couple of the shadows jump at Tifa and she readies her fist and feet for some prime ass kicking not noticing Reno's failures to faze them. Cloud does and shoves her out of harm's way. In the process, the shadows claw at him leaving real and deep cuts on his arm.

"Don't tell me we have another mad scientist on our hands." Tifa says as she gets back on her feet.

"Physical attacks are useless…try using Materia." Rude suggests insistently. Cloud remembers the stash he kept in the church after re-gathering them all after two little remnants stole them.

"Follow me!" Cloud runs towards the door where a slanted beam acts as a ramp to the upper levels of the church. Among the rafters is a locked chest containing a collection of Materia; from support to summoning to black magic to white magic- everything. Cloud tells them to look away while he retrieves the key; of course Reno tries to peaks but Cloud is too fast for him. The shadows close in on them as they scale the walls.

"Cloud, hurry." Tifa pleads. He tosses a couple Materia to each of them and they quickly attach them to their weapons, accessories, and any armor they have on.

The shadows swam the rafters somehow fused in the wood, but are able to rise from them to regain form. These are fiend none of them have encountered before; they do not rise from the darkness- they are darkness. Cloud shoots lightning at them and they do experience paralysis for a moment.

"Give them all you got!" Tifa encourages and torches them with fire. Rude uses Ice to slow them down while Reno puts up a shield around them. It seems to be working, but the shadows are relentless.

"Where are they coming from?" Cloud looks around, but can't find their source in the chaos. As he tries to find the best way to end the fight, Cloud hears more commotion coming from the ground level. Peering over the side he sees a figure in a black robe swinging a scythe at the shadows and for some reason unknown to him- his weapon is actually working. With each graceful swing flower petals gently glide to the floor. He swiftly finishes off the ones on the ground level and looks up to see Cloud and the crew struggling. Jumping to the upper level he defeats the rest easily.

"You have to be fast or they will return quickly. However, they will keep coming as long as the darkness prevails." The man informs them.

"How do we get rid of them for good?" Reno asks.

"You can't. They are manifestations from the darkness of the heart; they will always be here like shadows lurking in the night. The heart of this world is wide open and the darkness has swarmed it in search of it- wanting to consume it until this world is no more…lost forever in the Realm of Darkness."

"What are you rambling about, man? You don't sound the least bit sane." Reno draws his rod in anticipation. Cloud is silently thinking to himself how eerily familiar his words are, different, but suggest the same thing. Something and someone wants to end their planet and use its remnant for their own purposes. Cloud can't help to think that this man is a clone of the man who haunts this planet- who wants to destroy this planet- who believes the darkness of this planet has overwhelmed the light. Cloud is also cautious of the robed stranger and keeps his distance.

"Your weapons will have no effect on them, the Heartless will easily devour the hearts of the people of this world, and they will spread until all the lights in people's hearts are consumed with darkness." The man reveals his face to them and Cloud is pleased that he looks nothing like the man, although the expression on his face and the look in his eyes would suggest otherwise.

"So, are you here to help us fight them off?" Tifa hopes he is on their side.

"I don't know. Time has passed by so fast. I was in this same church three years ago admiring the flowers that grew here- the only place in Midgar that can sustain them- when a portal of darkness appeared and from it Pureblood and Emblem Heartless came through it. Not only them, but a man with dark skin, silver hair, and orange eyes accompanied them. He too had the Heartless emblem on his chest. He convinced me to go to a place that looked like a factory- not like I had much of a choice though, but it was a castle…Hollow Bastion…Castle Oblivion…or someplace else. After that, I have no recollection of the past three years and I find myself here again."

"Three years is a long time. I don't buy your story at all! You're hiding something, so spill it!" Reno waves his rod at him intimidatingly.

"Your face and demeanor remind me of someone; someone who annoyed me to no end, someone I never ever trusted...he was nobody to me though."

"Let me jog your memory then!" Reno leaps at him, but Cloud interferes.

"You seem to know a lot about the situation. We need to know how to fight these 'Heartless'. Come with us and you may regain those memories along the way. Apparently, you're not the only one who has appeared from a portal of darkness. We are heading to Bone Village to meet a girl in the same situation as you."

"Intriguing, I shall join you. I haven't been anywhere on this planet but Midgar."

"Good. I was talking to Knife before all this went down. We will meet her and Nunchaku at Wall Market and fly there tonight." Rude informs all.

Leaving the church and making it to Wall Street in Sector 6, darkness engulfs the area. More shadows appear but seem to come from a common source. As they fight their way through the ruins of the sector, they arrive at a familiar place. The ruins of a mansion owned by the most perverted man in Midgar, Don Corneo. He was a frequent customer to the brothel knows as Honey Bee Inn in Sector 6 and claimed he was looking for love and a bride. In a strange twist of a cross-dressing event of Cloud trying to rescue Tifa from Don, Cloud became the one who needed to be rescued from Don by Tifa.

Here, a pool of darkness serves as an entryway for the heartless to invade.

"We have to keep them in Midgar. If they reach Edge then the population is in big trouble." Tifa insists.

"Edge?" The man has never heard of such a place.

"A lot has changed in three years…what is your name?"

"Aliramu, Ali for short."

"Ali, I'm Tifa and that is Cloud, Rude and Reno."

"Enough with the introductions, we have heartless to kill here!" Reno and the rest are restricted to using Materia until they can find a weapon that can work against them.

"A keyblade is the preferred weapon, especially against emblem heartless. They are the ones that steal hearts and the keyblade will release and return those hearts to the people who had them stolen. However, your weapons should work against the emblem heartless."

"And where do we find this' keyblade'?"

"They find you, it chooses a wielder."

"For losing your memory of three years, you sure know a lot."

"Memory of events may fade, but the knowledge gained from the experience will always be there."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever weirdo."

Cloud fuses his sword with Materia and tries out it out. Gratefully, his sword does banish them. Reno follow suit while Rude and Tifa stick to casting magic. Within a few minutes the shadows have receded. They head to the rendezvous point- the ruins of Green Park. Even in its prime, this park was never green because flowers or grass never grew there. The soil of Midgar was too toxic with the extensive use of Mako Reactors by the Shinra Electric Power Company.

This is the company responsible for almost destroying the world three years ago when their greatest warrior- First class SOLDIER- Sephiroth casted Metor on the planet with the intent of severely weakening it so he could gain control over it and become a God. Luckily there was a counter spell to Metor called, Holy. The now 'Maiden of the Lifestream', Aeris casted this spell and saved most of the planet from any destruction while Midgar and the Shinra company were reduced to wreckage. The people of this planet are resilient and two year after "Meteorfall', a new city was constructed to the east of Midgar named, Edge. This is where Cloud and Tifa now reside as owners of the 7th Heaven Bar. One year ago, Sephiroth infected the Lifestream which manifested into a disease called, Geostigma that killed off people who came into contact with the Lifestream that day. Cloud and Denzel were two of the people that did. The cure was the pure pool of water in Aeris' church, but the bigger problem was defeating Sephiroth before he could coat the world in darkness and destroy the planet. Now, a year later, it seems Cloud won the battle but not the war. The words, "I will, never be a memory" are still heard clearly in his mind for Cloud feels the phantom has returned with greater power than before.

At Green Park, Knife and Nunchaku have a bigger helicopter waiting for them. Tifa decides to return to Edge to watch over Marlene and Denzel while he's gone; she knows that she won't be much help since she's a hand-to-hand combat fighter. Rude and Reno escort her back home while Cloud and Aliramu continue on with their journey. Next stop: Bone Village.

Heading north and across the sea they arrive at Bone Village midday the next day. This village surrounded by dense forest has expanded greatly in the past three years. This is mostly because the archeological site has expanded- what Bone Village is known for. This village is in a location perfect for discovering the past of this planet being so close to an ancient capital called, The Forgotten City. Many artifacts have been found in these areas that are thought to be associated with the ancient race of people called, Cetra and/or Ancients. They traveled from planet to planet in search of The Promised Land. In actuality, they wanted to make whatever planet they cultivated and thrive on their Promise Land. Aeris once said, "You don't 'know' where the Promised Land of the Ancients is. You search and travel, until you feel it. Like you just know...this is the Promised Land."

They were the main inhabitants of this planet with the humans of today being the minority. The Cetra began the cultivation of life by working with the Lifestream and sustained life on this planet as its protectors. These people were humans who had an extraordinary ability to connect with nature through the spirit and by doing so they used magic without the aid of Materia. They were the ones who made the land fertile enough for their and the other human population to grow and prosper. However, a majority of the Cetra was wiped out thousands of years ago by a calamity from the skies and the survivors settled down and blended into the human population. Over the thousands of years, their population went through exponential decay.

The legend of the Cetra being able to find The Promised Land sparked the ambition of President Shinra to use the military forces of his company, SOLIDER and The Turks, to find a Cetra to lead them there; a place with fertile land and plenty of Mako to sustain the new lifestyle of the human population who derive their energy from the Lifestream, a place where he could build Neo Midgar with luscious scenery and extravagance- not the metal and dirt city it was then. Aeris was such Cetra and to this day is thought to be the last one. Knowing this, Sephiroth killed her to prevent the summoning of Holy, to prevent the planet from being spared from Meteor's wrath, and to prevent anyone from finding the fabled Promise Land- no one was allowed to live or escape total annihilation in his mind. With her gone now, the race is thought to be extinct.

Standing outside the door to the inn is Barret and Reeve. They lead the Turks, Cloud and Aliramu to the girl's recovery room. Nunchaku wants to go in first-alone. The others wait in the hall for him to return. When he enter, she is sitting up in her bed looking out the window at a familiar scenery-somewhat. On the nightstand next to her bed are small daggers, on the coat hook near the door is a black robe, and around her bed are flakes from rocks she was shaping into more daggers. Hearing them come in, she stops flint knapping and turns around to face her visitor. Nunchaku can't believe his eyes, she's really who he thought she's be. Nunchaku approaches her slowly and gently.

"Do you remember me? It's been so long." He is still in shock as he waits for an answer.

"Should I? You don't…look familiar." The girl searches though her foggy mind to match his face with a name and his name's significance to her.

"It's been two years since that day. For two years, I thought you were dead. But you're standing right in front of me now- alive and two years older. Nunchaku, does that name ring a bell to you?"

"Nun…cha…ku…Nun…cha…ku…." She keeps repeating the name hoping to bring forth any sleeping memories.

1995 Bone Village. A twelve year old girl from the wealthiest family in Bone Village enjoys exploring her father's archeological sites in the area. Daily, she helps with the excavations in search of specific treasures which are stones that would make good daggers, blade, and gems that can be used to decorate them. Annoyed with fire-light from lanterns, she preferred to use electric lanterns after finding a Lightning Materia. One of her other favorite pass times is watching thunder storms from the roof of her family's mansion. One day a girl from Corel passes by who is also skilled with using small weapons, but her specialty are knives.

"Your blades look pretty fancy, but do you know how to wield them?"

"Well since you asked, I should test them out to see."

"Are you sure? You look pretty young."

"Looks can be deceiving although you look pretty old."

"Hmph, well if you insist. Your defeat will swiftly come."

In the hallway, Knife talks to Cloud, Reeve, Barrett, and Aliramu about the girl.

"I met her one day when I ran away from home the first time. I was only fifteen back then. Unlike me, her family had wealth, but like me she had a love for the art of small weapons. I frequently visited her over the years to teach her how to properly wield them. It didn't take long for her to rival my skill and have advantage over me with her lightning speed. We were teenagers when we thought about taking our training to the next level by training in Wutai and we did. Not long after, Nunchaku and I joined the Turks while Larxene continued her training. But, I guess the universe had other plans for her. She returned to Bone Village to visit her parents and on that day two years ago was the last time we saw her."

2008 Bone Village. Knife and Nunchaku return to Bone Village to see how much destruction Meteor caused. Arriving at his home, they find that no one is home. Believing his parents and sister are at the site, they travel there. Commotion and chaos greets her as the workers are in distress. Nunchaku's parents see Knife and Nunchaku and inform them about the current situation.

"Knife and son, Arlene is trapped in one of the tunnels that collapsed. We are doing everything to get her out, but it's been hours since she's been in there." Knife shoves them out of her way while Nunchaku takes a shovel from one of the workers. They begin to dig a pathway from an adjacent tunnel with help from other archeologists. It takes hours to reach her, but when they did she was nowhere to be found. She'd had vanished into thin air.

"Not long after that, Nunchaku and I returned to Midgar not only to return to our duties as Turks, but be in a place where we can openly grieve together. Trying to patch up the scar Sephiroth left on our planet kept our minds off of our loss. We have just started to accept that she perished in the cave-in, but now hopefully we will feel much better knowing that we knew that she didn't."

Back in the room, Arlene still tries to remember who this man is.

"Nunchaku…Nunchaku!" Her eyes light up as childhood memories return to her. "Big brother, Nunchaku!" She jumps out her bed and runs to him only to punch him on the arm. "What took you so long to find me?!"

"How was I supposed to find you? I thought you were dead." She rubs her head and paces around the room still confused where she is.

"Wait, you said two years? Where have I been for two year then? The last thing I remember is getting lost in one of the dark tunnels. I remember falling asleep or passing out from lack of oxygen, but then I woke up and found myself stumbling out before passing out again."

"Well you're here now, safe and sound. That's all that matters." Nunchaku hugs her tightly while fighting back tears. Interrupting their reunion, Knife barges into the room and quickly closes the door. She frantically starts gathering Arlene's things scattered throughout the room.

"Nunchaku, Arlene-we are under attack. These funny moving white things have surrounded the building. The others are holding them off, but we need to get you somewhere safe so you can continue recovering."

"No, this is exactly what I need. I need to regain my endurance and this is perfect practice." Arlene grabs a bunch of her daggers and blades and stores them in the pockets hanging from her belt. "We can train together, like old times." Arlene smiles at them as they draw their weapons and follow her out the door.

Outside, the people of the village run away from the sound of gunshots and weapon slinging. These type of enemies were different from the heartless encountered yesterday, but are another component to a person who loses their heart. "Bearing the upside-down emblem of a heartless, a Nobody is the body and soul that remain when the heart leaves the body." Arlene explains. "Depending on how strong a person's heart was when it left, the person will produce a Nobody of human or monster form". Born from the realm between Light and Darkness, they 'do not exist' and yet they are able to remember their human life and are able to think for themselves; the heartless have no such abilities. However, having no heart, Nobodies question the emotions they may express and do task that will fill that void. "Their purpose of existence is not known to them- so they make their own." Although, these dusks were sent by a stronger Nobody who has control over them and gave them a very specific task of eliminating previous Nobodies- they know too much and two of the nine are in one place.

"I have seen these things before." Aliramu states as he exchanges blows with the Dusk Nobodies.

"Yeah, they definitely don't like physical attacks." Arlene notices.

"Ha, Tifa and Rude would have a field day on these things!" Barrett says as he gleefully blasts them away.

"More fun for us then." Nunchaku swings away at them with perfection.

Knife and Cloud fight with great concentration not saying much. Reeve is not a fighter at all and is evacuating the village with the help of his mechanic cat dolls named, Cait Sith. Cloud decides to help Reeve with the evacuation as the nobodies grow in number. Soon before long the nobodies retreat to where they came from and the gang returns to the inn to regroup.

Reeve informs Cloud and the others of a trail of destructive darkness in Costa del Sol that leads to a small island chain off the coast. He is heading there next and asks Cloud and Barrett to join him, but Barret has to get back to work, but promises to be on the lookout for any suspicious activity here and in New Corel. Cloud insists that Aliramu and Arlene join them since they know more about the heartless and nobodies- more than anyone else here. Reeve agrees as Nunchaku and Knife agree to patrol certain areas while enlisting the help of the other Turks to keep their eyes and ears open too. Many of the Turks are stationed in their hometowns, but none are from Wutai so Knife goes there while Barrett can handle Corel and Nunchaku Bone Village. So Reeve, Cloud, Aliramu, and Arlene head to Costa del Sol.

Arriving in Costa del Sol the next day, they see the destruction caused by a dark source. The Inn is half-standing, the cobblestone roads are out of place, sand is in piles randomly throughout the beaches, and the people are in disarray. Reeve asks around to see what the townspeople have to say.

"It was like a hurricane or typhoon from hell came through for the past two nights. The sky was black with a slight purple to it as lightning struck down." The owner of the inn tells them as he picks up the pieces of his home.

"The storm was centered over the island chain off the east coast. This isn't the first time a storm like this happened either, but the worst one yet." A woman on vacation informs them.

"Weird things like this have been happening since that storm a year ago…and Meteor three years ago. Rumor has it that Sephiroth was the culprit for both. I admired him so much: looks, attitude, brains, brawns and all. And here I thought he was dead…so sad to see a hero live long enough to become a villain." A teenage girl expresses her feelings of sorrow to them.

"If I were you, I would follow the destruction to the Islands. They would probably know more than us mainlanders." A man suggests.

They take the man's advice and journey to the Island chain off the coast of Costa del Sol. These chains of islands are called, Destiny Islands. For traveling all over the world, Cloud had no idea these islands existed. When they land on the biggest island he can see why- this is a lovely place to be. The island has fresh ocean air with calm waves and no Mako reactor for miles away, pretty mountains that overlap the partially cloudy sky, but not the brightly shining sun. Various flowers, plants and tree grow from the fertile soil and withstand the changing weather from rain to shine. No torturous fiends are found here- only kind farm animals, birds, bugs, small lizards and household pets. Not many people live on this island too, which helps preserve one of the last natural habitats of the planet.

Reeve leads the way knowing the layout of the island having been here many times before. He leads them to a house situated close to the main beach. They walk up to a house with its own private beach; its three stories and symmetrical in structure. A garage is attached to the right side of the house while a garden is on the other side; same size. A white picket fence encloses the yard but the gate is open. They can hear muffled voices inside the house and in the backyard. As they make it to the front porch and approach the door it opens before Reeve can knock. The girl freezes surprised to see so many people on her porch and only recognizes one of them.

"Umm, hi Reeve. What brings you over today…with so many people?" The girl has long light brown hair that almost reaches her butt in the back while the front stops at her waist and lavender eyes which they find very unusual.

"Is your mother home, Sakuya? I have more intel regarding the whereabouts of your siblings."

"Oh really? Well come inside then!" Sakuya hold the door open for them as they file in. "Mom, we have company!" She yells facing the stairwell to upstairs.

Moments later a woman wearing a white blazer with a matching white skirt comes down the stairs; despite being very hot and humid outside she wears tall white boots that make much noise as she descends the stairs. She has light brown hair she keeps tied back into a ponytail while some left down to make a bang that covers most her left eye. When she reaches the bottom, Cloud takes special notice to the color of her eyes- a brilliant emerald green.

"Come inside, I'll get us some tea." She directs them to the living room to the left of the main foyer, closes the door behind them and heads to the right to the kitchen.

In the living room, Reeve sits on the couch facing the fireplace on the west wall while Cloud sits on the couch facing the north wall with a window to the backyard. Sakuya sits next to Reeve, while Arlene and Aliramu stand on either side of the doorway. The mother returns with tea and sets it on the coffee table in the middle of the room. She sits in the rocking chair next to the fireplace and faces them.

"Thank you for the tea, my name is Cloud by the way." Cloud politely says.

"I know who you are. I used to be a Shinra employee too. So what brings you all here?"

"Serenity, I'm sure you're aware of the sudden appearances of these new fiends. They are unlike anything we have ever encountered and we fear their darkness is associated with a certain someone who won't diffuse into the Lifestream. Aliramu and Arlene have knowledge of such creatures and had contact with this darkness afflicting the planet. The darkness swept them away in recent years and I have reason to believe this is what happened to Riku and Sephira."

"There was a big storm on the night they disappeared, much like the one last night." Sakuya points out.

"And the night before; during the same time of these storms, there were reports of people appearing from 'balls of darkness'- Aliramu and Arlene were two of these people."

"Yes, that major storm was about a year ago now." Serenity informs the others.

"Also, around the same time Sephiroth returned and covered the sky in darkness." Cloud points out.

"However, the source of this darkness is still up for debate though; it can be Sephiroth, Jenova, Hojo…heck even Weiss, we don't know where any of them are and if they really are dead or not." Reeve reminds Cloud.

"Or someone connected to the places I've been in my other life- a place beyond this world." Aliramu adds.

"Precisely, this other world may be where Riku and Sephira were swept away to like Aliramu three years ago and Arlene two years ago. Someone is after something in our world and is determined to find it."

"We want to find more people like them. Hopefully along the way they will regain their memories and hopefully we can find a way to save the planet-again." Cloud says optimistically.

"Sakuya, if they come back here anytime soon I want you to be here, so I will join them in their search for answers."

"Good, tomorrow you will head out with Cloud, Aliramu and Arlene then." Reeve stands up and walks towards the archway.

"We will head to Kalm to recruit Vincent Valentine, first. He may know something being the oldest of us all. He knows Shinra's dirty past better than anyone else." Cloud tells Serenity. Serenity smirks at the thought,

"You really don't know me then do you, Cloud Strife?" She picks up the tea for it is all gone and takes it into the kitchen leaving Cloud baffled at how she knows his last name.


End file.
